More than 80 Australian and international artists, curators, writers and performers will take part in the opening celebrations for ‘The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT7) at the Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery on December 8 and 9.

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Acting Director Suhanya Raffel said the Acting Minister for the Arts would open the exhibition at 10am on Saturday December 8 and launch the free opening weekend celebrations.

‘The 20th anniversary of the APT series will be celebrated with the most extensive array of talks, discussions, tours, film screenings and performances staged at an APT to date,’ Ms Raffel said.

The sculpture was delivered to the site on the banks of the Brisbane River by barge early this morning.

‘Artists are the core of the APT and we’re fortunate to have more than 35 artists from across Australia, Asia and the Pacific giving talks on their work and contributing to discussions on the themes that have emerged in APT7.

Performances relating to works in the exhibition will include dances by the Kwoma and Abelam people of Papua New Guinea’s East Sepik region and Tiwi dancers from the Jilamara Arts Centre, Milikapit,' she said.

In addition to artists and performers, international guest speaker includes New York-based art historian and critic Claire Bishop, whose talk will share insights into the relationship between artists, museums and spectators and the role of contemporary art in our world.

Both QAG and GOMA will open for a one-night-only APT7 Up Late, with a headline performance by Syrian folk-pop sensation Omar Souleyman. APT7 Up last is free to the public from 6pm on Saturday December 8.

Ms Raffel said Kids’ APT7, supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, included 13 interactive artist projects located throughout GOMA and QAG, commencing on the opening weekend and continuing throughout APT7.

‘The opening weekend will also feature a cooking demonstration for kids from Malaysian artist ISE and the Gallery’s executive chef Josh Lopez at the GOMA Café Bistro,’ she said.